The railroad industry employs a variety of railroad cars for transporting products including vehicles such as automobiles and trucks. Auto-rack railroad cars transport newly-manufactured vehicles such as automobiles, vans, and trucks. Auto-rack railroad cars, known in the railroad industry as auto-rack cars, often travel thousands of miles through varying terrain. One typical type of auto-rack car is compartmented, having two or three floors or decks, two sidewalls, a pair of doors at each end, and a roof. Newly-manufactured vehicles are loaded into and unloaded from an auto-rack car for transport by a person (i.e., a loader) who drives the vehicles into or out of the auto-rack car. The loader also operates the vehicle restraint system that secures the vehicles in the auto-rack car.
One problem with auto-rack cars is the potential for damage to newly-manufactured vehicles which can occur in the auto-rack car due to the unwanted movement of one or more of the transported vehicles not adequately secured in the auto-rack car. Various restraint or anchoring systems have been developed for securing the vehicles transported in auto-rack cars to prevent movement or shifting of those vehicles during transportation. One type of system employs a “tie down” restraint using chains connected to steel runners in the support surface of the auto-rack car. A ratchet tool is usually required to secure these chains taut. Certain types of these systems utilize winch mechanisms and harnesses which must be fitted over the vehicle tires to restrain movement of the vehicle.
To solve these problems and other disadvantages of prior vehicle restraint systems, a vehicle-restraint or wheel-chocking system for restraining vehicles transported on auto-rack cars was developed. This system is disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,239,933 and 5,302,063. This wheel-chocking or restraint system includes a plurality of chock members (referred to herein as “primary restraints”) detachably secured to gratings provided on a support surface of the auto-rack car at defined locations. This wheel chocking system was designed to utilize four primary restraints, one associated with each of the four wheels of a vehicle being transported, to provide a balanced restraint relative to the center of gravity of the vehicle and eliminate the effects of longitudinal forces caused by impacts and lateral forces induced by rocking of the auto-rack railroad car in transit.
As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the primary restraint 32 of this system includes an angled face-plate 34 for alignment with, and restraining movement of, a tire 40 of an associated wheel 42 of the vehicle 44 positioned on the grating 38. The angled face-plate 34 is vertically adjustable to a lower position (shown in FIGS. 2 and 3), an intermediate position, and an upper position (shown in phantom in FIG. 2) to provide chocking for different tire sizes. The angled face-plate 34 is attached to a load-transmitting member 36 which is adapted to transfer the load applied to the face-plate 34 to the grating 38. The primary restraint 32 also includes a paddle-shaped restraining member 39 which contacts the inside surface of the tire to prevent lateral shifting of the vehicle.
While the primary restraint system described above (and described in more detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,239,933 and 5,302,063) has been widely adapted and generally relatively effective in restraining vehicles, such as conventional automobiles, vans, trucks and certain SUVs, a problem has developed in relation to new types of vehicles, currently called “cross-over” vehicles. Cross-over vehicles generally include a truck or SUV-type body mounted on an automobile-type frame. Such vehicles currently include the PONTIAC VIBE vehicle, the TOYOTA MATRIX vehicle and other similar vehicles. These cross-over vehicles have a higher center of gravity and a much lower curb weight than conventional automobiles and SUV's, but include relatively low fenders, moldings and bumpers (compared to certain trucks, vans and SUVs). When cross-over vehicles are loaded in an auto-rack railroad car on the grating of the vehicle restraint system described above, it has been found that the restraint system and, particularly, the primary restraints are not adequately holding these vehicles in place or preventing the movement of the vehicles to a minimum desired level of movement.
This lack of restraint occurs, at least in part, because the adjustable member or face-plate 34 of the restraint cannot be mounted or positioned in the upmost or highest position because the adjustable member will or may interfere with or contact the bumper, fender or molding of the cross-over vehicle as illustrated in phantom in FIG. 2. It should be appreciated that vehicle manufacturers provide extremely particular instructions which warn against any contact or engagement between anything in the auto-rack railroad cars and the new vehicles because the vehicle manufacturers desire to deliver the vehicles to dealers and customers in “perfect” condition. Any damage, such as scratches or dents to the fenders, bumpers, moldings, trim or other parts of the vehicle, could prevent or inhibit a customer from purchasing or taking delivery of the vehicle. Accordingly, vehicle manufacturers prefer that the adjustable member of the primary restraint of the above system not contact and not come close to the fenders, bumpers, trim or moldings of the newly manufactured vehicles as illustrated in the lower position in FIG. 2. The adjustable member must accordingly be placed in the lowest or, at best, the intermediate position when securing certain vehicles such as cross-over vehicles in the auto-rack cars as illustrated in the lowest position in FIG. 2. This causes the face-plate to engage the tire at a lower point on the tire, and accordingly, the vehicle is more likely to be able to jump over or hop the primary restraint if the vehicle is exposed to sufficient forces as illustrated in FIG. 3.
A related problem which can also cause the vehicle to be more likely to jump over or hop the primary restraint is that the primary restraint is sometimes not placed as close to the tire as potentially possible as also illustrated in FIG. 2. One reason for this is that the loaders are in a hurry when they load the vehicles into the auto-rack railroad cars. When the loaders are in a hurry, they tend to place the primary restraint in a position close to the tire without substantially maneuvering the primary restraint to the closest possible position to the tire. This positioning can sometimes leave a substantial gap between the primary restraint and the tire. This gap can allow the vehicle to move and in fact build up speed causing the vehicle to hop or jump the primary restraints.
A similar problem arises because the primary restraint may need to be positioned or spaced at a distance from the tire because the tire is at a position on the grating or relative to the grating that does not allow the primary restraint to be placed in engagement with the tire. The primary restraint must be placed a distance of up to three-quarters of an inch away from the tire due to the position of the grating members or rungs relative to the tire and the locking members of the primary restraint. Again, in such situations, a gap is created allowing the vehicle to hop or jump the primary restraints. This is also illustrated in FIG. 2 where the size of the gap between the tire and the face-plate is approximately half the distance between the rungs of the grating.
This gap problem is compounded because certain vehicle manufacturers require that certain vehicles be transported with the transmission in neutral to prevent damage to the vehicle such as to the transmission of the vehicle. In neutral, the transmission does not stop the vehicles from moving.
It should also be appreciated that the vehicles may jump or hop the primary restraints at a variety of different times. During movement of the train including sudden stoppage of the auto-rack railroad car or severe deceleration of the auto-rack railroad car. Such instances can include sudden stopping for emergencies alone or in combination with slack action. The amount of force on the vehicles being transported relative to the auto-rack car can cause the vehicles to hop or jump over the primary restraints, especially if the tire is engaged by the face-plate at a relatively low point, if the primary restraint is spaced from the tire or if the face-plate is at a low position and spaced from the tire.
More importantly, during loading or unloading in a railroad yard, the auto-rack railroad cars are coupled and decoupled with other railroad cars on a regular basis. During the coupling action, severe jolts of up to 8 to 10 miles per hour can be incurred by the auto-rack railroad car even though regulations (and signs in the yards and on the railroad cars) limit the speed to no more than 4 miles per hour. These jolts can cause extreme force on the vehicles relative to the railroad cars and, thus, cause the vehicles to jump or hop the primary restraints especially if the tire is engaged by the face-plate at a relatively low point or if the primary restraint is spaced from the tire. When a vehicle hops or jumps a restraint, the vehicle may engage another vehicle in the railroad car or one or more end doors of the railroad car. There have been significant recorded instances of this type of damage to vehicles and especially cross-over vehicles in auto-rack railroad cars in railroad yards in recent years. As indicated above, such damage to the vehicles necessitates the replacement of the damaged part and potentially other parts of the vehicle. This damage is extremely expensive for vehicle manufacturers which charge the railroads for such damage.
This problem is compounded for vehicle manufacturers when the vehicle damaged is a specially ordered vehicle (instead of a stock vehicle) for a specific customer. The customer can wait one, two, three or more months for a specially ordered vehicle. If the specially ordered vehicle is damaged in transit, the customer may need to wait for another specially ordered vehicle to be manufactured. This can harm the dealer's and manufacturer's businesses.
Additionally, the railroads often incur significant expenses because the end doors of the auto-rack railroad cars need to be repaired. During such repairs, these cars must be taken out of service.
The primary restraints are also often damaged when the vehicles jump the primary restraints or run into the primary restraints. The railroads have to replace these damaged primary restraints or have these damaged primary restraints repaired. This causes additional expenses which are incurred by the railroads.
It should thus be recognized that while the restraint system described above, which has been widely commercially implemented, provides certain restraint for vehicles being transported in auto-rack cars, in certain instances this restraint system does not adequately protect the vehicles or prevent the movement of the vehicles and thus prevent damage to the vehicles, the auto-rack railroad cars and the primary restraints. The automobile industry and the railroad industry have sought improvements for this restraint system. Accordingly, there is a need for an improvement to the restraint system described above which is easy to install and remove and assists the primary restraints which are adapted to be attached to the gratings to hold the vehicles more securely.